California agency projects a dry 2014

California anticipates low water deliveries

Nov. 21, 2013

In this May file photo, large graders remove silt from the bottom of percolation ponds in Palm Springs. Southern California water purveyors could get only 5 percent of the water allotments that send water to the Palm Springs ponds. / Jay Calderon, The Desert Sun

Written by

Ian James

The Desert Sun

If the state’s initial projections end up being accurate, Southern California’s water purveyors could face a very dry 2014, receiving only 5 percent of their full allotments of water from the State Water Project.

The Department of Water Resources announced its initial projection on Wednesday in response to unusually low water levels at reservoirs across California. The agency stressed that the number is a conservative estimate, and that it will be reassessed and updated in the coming months based on the amount of snow that falls in the Sierra Nevada.

This year, water agencies received 35 percent of their full allotments of water from the State Water Project.

“This is a very low allocation that reflects the possibility of a third year of drought in the state,” said Craig Ewing, vice president of the Desert Water Agency. “It’s a number that should make us all pay attention to the need to conserve water and the need to look at the state system and make sure it’s in the best condition that it can be, which it isn’t right now.”

Ewing and other officials of the Coachella Valley’s water agencies have been promoting the state’s plan to build tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to carry water southward to farms and cities.

While opponents argue the tunnels would harm the Delta ecosystem and wouldn’t fix the state’s water problems, supporters say the proposed $25 billion plan would provide more reliable supplies of imported water for Southern California.

The Coachella Valley’s water agencies have also been supporting a proposed $6.5 billion state water bond that would go before voters next year. The state Assembly’s proposal would provide funds for various infrastructure projects, including $1 billion for projects in the Delta and $1.5 billion for water storage projects.

(Page 2 of 3)

Imported water has long been crucial for the desert, which relies on flows from the Colorado River to recharge the aquifer. Despite years of water deliveries, though, heavy pumping from wells in the Coachella Valley has led to significant declines in groundwater levels.

The Desert Sun recently analyzed water agencies’ records for 346 wells and determined that water levels have sunk 55 feet on average between 1970 and this year. The aquifer is one of many across the state considered to be in overdraft, with more water flowing out in most years than is flowing in.

While some residents and public officials have recently called for more ambitious water conservation efforts, the valley’s water agencies have for decades sought to alleviate the problem of declining groundwater levels by focusing on securing supplies of imported water.

Because the canals and pipelines of the State Water Project don’t reach the Coachella Valley, the area’s water agencies trade their water allotments to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for equivalent quantities through the Colorado River Aqueduct. It’s one of two routes by which water flows from the Colorado River to the valley.

The Coachella Valley Water District and the Desert Water Agency have a combined entitlement each year to 194,100 acre-feet of water through the State Water Project. But if the state sets the final allocation at 5 percent, that would translate into 9,705 acre-feet. Each acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851 gallons.

Much can change in the coming months, and it’s hard to say how the area’s water supplies ultimately will be affected, said Jim Barrett, general manager of the Coachella Valley Water District.

“They will adjust that on a monthly basis moving forwa­rd, based on what happens with weather and hydrology in Northern California,” Barrett said.

“They don’t want to over-commit, because they don’t want to have to go back and reduce the allocation, so this is kind of their worst case, and our expectation is — again, depending on weather — that it will hopefully improve over the course of the next few months.”

(Page 3 of 3)

This year has been extraordinarily dry across California. The U.S. Drought Monitor classifies 84 percent of the state as being in severe or extreme drought.

Long-term weather data maintained by the National Climatic Data Center show that the first 10 months of 2013 have been the driest such period in California in more than a century of record-keeping.

In developing its projection for the State Water Project, the Department of Water Resources considered the fact that various major reservoirs are less than half-full. In one of the most dramatic cases, San Luis Reservoir is now at just 25 percent of its capacity and 42 percent of its historical average.

The agency has previously made big changes in its projections in response to winter storms. In 2010, for instance, the initial allocation was set at 5 percent but later was increased to 50 percent.

Half of the state’s precipitation typically occurs from December to February.

Mark Cowin, director of the Department of Water Resources, said in a statement that while the water allocation could improve with storms this winter, it’s also possible that next year could be a third consecutive dry year.

“Today’s allocation is a stark reminder that California’s fickle weather demands that we make year-round conservation a way of life,” Cowin said.